Salom Quickest In FIM Moto3 Free Practice Three At Losail Circuit

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The third Moto3 free practice session in Qatar saw Romano Fenati (San Carlo Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#5) emerge as the fastest Italian on track with the eighth time, + 1.705 behind Salom, who was once again fastest on KTM with a 2'08.167.

Francesco Bagnaia (San Carlo Team Italia FMI FTR Honda#4) took a more cautious approach to avoid further damage to his injured arm. The rider was declared fit to race, but posted the 28th time (+ 4.143) as the wind and light rain made the circuit's surface slippery, causing several crashes.

Romano Fenati, 8º, 2'09.872 (download HD photo ) "We haven't improved our time since yesterday, but nobody else did. We were comparatively faster than yesterday. We found a good solution and my feeling improved. We still need time with the new bike and engine. I can cut the gap."

Francesco Bagnaia, 28º, 2'12.310 (download HD photo )"It was a difficult session because of the weather and the dirt on the track. I preferred not to take too many risks. We tried a couple of ideas that turned out to be positive. We still have to improve, but it's not impossible. I hope I can do better tomorrow."

Roberto Locatelli (Technical Coordinator, San Carlo Team Italia FMI)"It's been a fairly positive day. The team and the riders worked well, it seems that we finally took a positive turn toward the right setup. I think we can further improve tomorrow."

More, from a press release issued by MAPFRE Aspar Team:

JONAS FOLGER STAKES POLE CLAIM AHEAD OF TOMORROW'S QUALIFYING

MAPFRE Aspar on the pace throughout third free practice and finishes third fastest

With just one session on a filthy track there was no chance for the Moto3 riders to improve their pace on the second day of free practice at Losail tonight, where the rarity of desert rainfall also contributed to less than ideal conditions. Luis Salom again set the quickest time in a session dominated largely by MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger and the fight for pole tomorrow looks certain to be a straight fight between those two plus Alex Rins.

Folger's tactic was to push hard in every session and there were few riders able to live with his pace until he came in for new tyres at the end and was caught out by the surprise shower. His team-mate Eric Granado was also unlucky tonight, the Brazilian rookie struggling to cope with the dramatic changes in track conditions and also suffering a crash in the second corner.

3rd Jonas Folger 2.08.656 (10 laps): "Even though the track conditions weren't great it was fun to ride out there tonight. There was a lot of sand on the track so we had to modify our set-up to cope with it. After dominating most of the session we came in to change tyres near the end and it started to rain so we couldn't improve our time and lost a couple of positions but I'm not worried about that. The important thing is that we have been competitive in every session so far and we have good race pace."

23rd Eric Granado 2.11.218 (10 laps): "The track conditions were quite different today compared to yesterday. The wind was strong and there was a lot of sand on the track surface. I struggled to get into my rhythm at the start of the session and wasn't able to get behind another rider to get some guidance, and then I braked harder than I should have in turn two and crashed. The team fixed the bike quickly and gave me time to get back out on track and do three more laps and improve my lap time. If it wasn't for the crash I would have been quicker but we'll try to make up time tomorrow and be ready for the race."